Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-01-01
m he 8 DErs.
Cope's Fourth Days Exper1encs
IN the Grouse Grounds.

~fSN
Mrs. Pits hospitality this night, and in
the morning e ready to move. I
was very sorry to lose Nj. Pitts a. q
companion upon thus trip. but his 20
itical expectations would not admit Of
his going. and we said goodbye. Hn
brother, q young man full of vim and
visions Of antelope aud deer, went along,
and also Mr.. Couts Marjoribanxs, u
scotchman, and \ descendant Of Robert
Bruce. His father is Q member of the
English parliament for Berwick and
Twecdmouthshire, and very wealthy.
being the owner Of large hunting
grounds in Inverness, Scotland. Mr..
Marjoribanks has about $40 head Of cat-
tie on Mouse river. Some Of his herd
are the finest in this country, having
imported them from Scotland last spring.
He y so has two Scotch stag hounds i'm
ported which we took with us on this
hunt. Mr.. Marjori ranks is one Of tho
younger som Of this Scotch lord, and
expects to be obliged to hoe his own row
with the rest Of mankind. For this
purpose he has pitched his lent in free
America, where fathers do mo- make
fish Of one and flesh Of another. Well.
of we 60. Two teams, three good;sad-
dies, two dogs, and two platform spring
wagons well loaded with blankets, edi
bles, guns and ammunition. We drove
to Willard, crussed the Mouse, and.
keeping To the right of the Wintering
river in a southwesterly direction to-
wards the Dig Den hills. These h,llr
We were anxious to make, rs We were
told that plenty of deer could be found
there. The sun wa shining and no Mind
to speak of. Had there been wind it
could not have rustled in the tree tops
or made the grass appear like a waving
sea, for there IN not u tree for mile.
and miles, and the fires had burned
every spear u; grass. so that the prairies
looked like u great black barren plain,
and a heavy smoke had settled Ill.
around, making the sur appear " when
e e through u smoked glass. Dig DEN
hills mas an ugly sound, and OH such q
road as tl,is. where everything wore u
mantle Of blackness, and with 80 much
smoke lowering around, one might b.
pardoned for thinking it the road to the
internal regions. The smoke war All
unfortunate thing for us, ~ it interrupt
ed our vision. We might have passed
quite rear to spots where the grass was
not buried, and antelope might have
been feeding. We drove all day, aud
arrived ut the Dog Deus just before
nigi.tfall. We could have made the
trip souner, as it was only about forty
miles from u starting point, but owing
to the day We could not sec ANY land.
marks. and lost our reckoning. We
saw n small drove Of antelope just be-
fore dark, but could not get close enough
for u sure shot. We saw eagles, badgers
and ioxes Oh the way, but did moi try
our rifles IN them. The Dog Deus ar.
q range Of hills extending northwes,
and southeast u distance of one hundred
miles Or more almost parallel with tile
Mouse river. They are al extension Ut
the coteaus or u part of them, and q
divide between the valleys Of the Mouse
and Missouri. You leave the lower
prairie aud gradually ascend until you
reach anetner and higher prairie, which
is moderately rolling, like the lower
prairie, but as you drive along on thu
upper table land you are suddenly sur.
prised by seeing the top Of u tree, which
looks like brush at first sight On draw.
ing near you are ut the edge of deeL
canyon filled with oak trees, choke
cherry and wild rose bushes. These
canyons extend ten to fifteen miles ia
some instances, winding around and il
and out, and leading YOU to the lower
prairie. These canyons are located
from one-half to two miles apart, and
appear t. have been formed by water,
Is each bears evidence of having been u
river bottom. In some of them the
water still stands in deep holes. aid
toward the head of some OF them are
little lakes. Here in these gulleys We
expected to find plenty of deer, but We
were disappointed, as IN nearly every
canyon the FIRE had burned, destroying
the timber and everything that deer
could feed upon. In one OF these RI.
vines We found a family BY the name
of Parks Mr.. and Mrs. Parks, with six
children and two grandchildren. These
people came from eastern New York
and are starting Il cattle ranch at THU
point. They have a good comfortable
log house down in the bottom of one al
the canyons, where the storms cannot
reach them. 1t is tv,ly a romantic
place but forty miles from neighlor,
and eighty miles from supplies rather
knocked the romance out If the bust
ness for me. Time will bring ne,ghbon
school houses and churches, as these
prairies are fertile, well watered, and Gu
pable Of raising anything now grown in
the northwest. Another good feature
Of this country lis the great pasturage i,
affords and the natural shelter for cattle